


Lab Partners

by samwhambam



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 20:52:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7985782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samwhambam/pseuds/samwhambam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver is surprised when his lab partner turns out to be both ridiculously hot and incredibly smart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lab Partners

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second Coliver piece. Which, is way better than my first, but that's besides the point. Let me know what you think!

_Students will work through the experiments in pairs of two and will submit a single lab report at the beginning of the next lab. Each lab report will contain one set of answers with both of the student’s names on it._

Oliver groaned as he threw down his syllabus. He sighed out a “this is bullshit!” before running his hands over his face.

 

“Disappointed?” Michaela asked as she looked up from her computer screen, pausing in her scrolling as she picked up Oliver’s discarded syllabus.

 

“Yeah. We have to work on the lab reports with our partner. We only get to turn in one copy,” Oliver sighed as he pushed himself off of his couch, grabbing his water bottle for a refill. “We all know what’s going to happen! I’m going to get paired off with someone who doesn’t know anything, and I’ll be stuck doing all the work! Or! They’ll just be lazy and hand off the homework to the ‘smart Asian who must be good at science’ and I’ll still have to do it by myself.”

 

“Or you might end up with a lab partner who does an equal amount of work as you,” Michaela quipped as she followed Oliver into the kitchen.

 

“Life isn’t that fair,” Oliver leaned against the counter, staring at the fridge. “I don’t think I have anything to eat, wanna go grab food?”

 

“Yeah, give me a moment, I want to finish the blog post I was working on,” Michaela walked into the living room, settling herself back onto the couch. “Don’t worry so much about it! It’ll be fine.”

 

*

 

It was two weeks later and Oliver’s first day of lab. He paused outside the lab door, bracing himself for impact. ‘ _Get over it, Hampton. Just go inside.’_ Usually Oliver liked his lab classes. It was two and a half hours of, usually, a fun experiment. The hard work came after with the lab reports, but even then, nothing felt better than the heavy smack of the report on his professor’s desk at the beginning of the next lab period. It was satisfying, seeing a hard copy of all his hard work. But now, Oliver was dreading this class. This class was calling for too much group work. What if his partner was an asshole? What if they didn’t do any work? What if all of Oliver’s hard work goes to giving his partner a good grade when they didn’t deserve it?

 

Oliver pushed the door open, shaking the thoughts from his head. There was no point in beginning so negative before the class even started. The lab was already halfway filled with students sitting in groups of two. Oliver approached the middle lab bench, letting his backpack fall to the floor as he leaned against one of the stools. He pulled his phone out as he waited to see who would claim the seat next to him. Oliver threw up a quick prayer to a higher power he didn’t believe in before opening up a text from Michaela.

 

After hitting send on his response, he heard a soft voice trying to get his attention.

 

“Is it cool if I sit here?” The voice was gentle, almost a little timid as they began to pull the stool away from the bench. Oliver wanted to laugh at their audacity to ask the question when they weren’t waiting for a response. Still, he would humor them.

 

“Sure. Go ahead,” Oliver’s voice cracked on the ‘ahead’ as he finally looked at the man who spoke to him. He was hot. The kind of hot that would melt any woman and make any man question their sexuality. Oliver quickly looked around, counting the stools surrounding the lab bench and almost shit himself when he realized that this gorgeous man was going to be his lab partner. In that brief second, Oliver came to the conclusion that he would be fine with doing all the work for this class as long as this meant that he could stare at this man’s face. Not that Oliver was superficial or anything, Oliver just found this man that attractive.

 

“I’m Connor,” the man outstretched his hand to Oliver who stared at it for a second. Oliver took his hand, a blush spreading over his cheeks as he shook it. His heart began to beat wildly. His mind was running a mile a minute as he stared at Connor.

 

“I’m Oliver,” His voice may have been slightly higher than usual, but he hoped Connor didn’t notice. Oliver stared at his hand as he retreated it, never had he been so thankful for that hand, and it had done plenty of good things in its lifetime.

 

They sat in an awkward silence for another minute, both staring to the front of the room, waiting for the professor to come up and begin class. Oliver began cursing himself, trying to find something appropriate to say to Connor. The first thing that came to his mind was, _“fucking shit your parents must’ve done good things in their past lives.”_ But he didn’t think that would go over well. Not when they had the whole semester to work together.

 

“So, what year are you?” Connor had turned back to him. This exquisite human being was striking up conversation with him and Oliver wanted to die. This never happened to him. He wasn’t about to this opportunity pass him by.

 

“I’m a third year,” Oliver flipped through the little rolodex in his mind, looking for something witty and clever to say.  He could usually find something, people usually described him as sweet, adorable and just a little sassy. But right now, sitting across from Connor, he was at a loss of words. “What about you?”

 

“Second year. Still figuring out this whole college thing. It’s kind of a shit show,” Connor smirked at Oliver, leaning towards him slightly. “But I have learned how to work hard while still playing hard.”

 

Oliver’s mouth went dry at the comment. If Oliver had been able to find a sarcastic comment, that smirk would’ve wiped it out of his memory. Oliver licked his lips, buying time as he tried to think of something to say. Connor’s eyes scanned down, following the movement of Oliver’s tongue. Oliver blushed harder as an argument broke out in his head. One part of him was arguing that Connor’s eyes were just drawn down to his lips because his tongue was the only part of him that was moving. The other half was screaming at him that maybe, just maybe Connor was interested. Some men are attracted to the cute and adorable, after all. Sexy wasn’t the only thing that turned men on. That was a weak argument, but it stood in favor of Oliver, so Oliver was definitely trying to justify that. Straight men didn’t watch another man’s tongue as he licked his lips, right? So, Connor had to be gay. And if he was gay, there was a chance that he was interested. Right?

 

Before Oliver could make another comment, the professor stood up and began class. Connor fully turned towards the front of the classroom and Oliver was left starting at the back of his head. Oliver briefly thought about what it would be like to run his fingers through the short hairs on the back of Connor’s head. They looked soft, well taken care of like he lathered with expensive shampoo, and with that observation, Oliver knew he was fucked.  

 

*

 

“Michaela!” Oliver called out as he ran up the stairs leading up to her apartment. Her living room window was open and he could hear the Friends theme song blasting. She was there, he knew she was there. He threw open her front door, spying her sitting on her couch, computer in her lap before throwing himself down onto her living room floor.

 

“Yes?” She peered at him over her screen, raising an eyebrow at him.

 

“My lab partner is the hottest guy I’ve ever seen,” Oliver sat up as he took off his backpack and kicked off his shoes. “I know I’m always more composed than this, but oh my god.”

 

“What’s his name?” Michaela gestured him towards the couch, opening another tab and going to facebook.

 

“Connor…” Oliver pulled out his phone, looking up the contact information that Connor had created. “Walsh.”

 

“Irish?” Michaela asked as she typed his name into the search engine.

 

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Oliver’s eyes scanned the different accounts that came up. He pointed at one of the profile pictures. “That’s him!”

 

Michaela clicked on his name, opening up his profile, and then clicking on the profile picture, causing a larger version to pop up. “Holy shit.”

 

She glanced at Oliver, raising her eyebrows at him. She began clicking through his profile pictures, stopping at the third one to pop up. It was Connor is a fitted blue suit, standing against a brick wall, holding his hands out, gesturing to a woman wearing a wedding dress. Michaela read the caption out loud, “Congrats to my beautiful sister on her big day!”

 

“Damn,” Michaela turned towards Oliver and just stared at him.

 

“I know!!” Oliver beamed at her as he stuck out his right hand. “He touched this. And then he watched my tongue as I licked my lips and then we did the experiment and he asked me questions about my major and what I did in my free time and it seemed like he cared. He didn’t even look bored while I told him about how I switched my major three times. He asked why!”

 

Oliver always prided himself on being eloquent and well-spoken. He was always able to remain calm and professional when others were freaking out, but now, he couldn’t help himself.

 

“There were times when he said things that hinted that he was an asshole, but I didn’t care. It just kind of turned me on,” Oliver smiled as he thought back to Connor’s sly comments. “He just has this charm and charisma that’s addicting. I’m smitten.”

 

“I can tell,” Michaela laughed at him as she placed her laptop onto the cushion next to her. “Want to order pizza?”

 

“Only if we can facebook stalk him while we eat and debate on if we think he’s gay or not,” Oliver countered as he got up to slip his shoes back on.

 

“Deal.”

 

*

 

Oliver fidgeted with his pen as he waited for Connor to show up. He already had his lab materials out, and was about to start on the questions before his nerves kicked in. He felt pathetic, he had the biggest crush on a man he had only talked to for about an hour and a half. It was a short experiment and they didn’t even talk the entire time, both of them caught up in what they were supposed to be doing. They talked very briefly after lab, just long enough to exchange phone numbers and provide enough conversation for Oliver to pick apart in the upcoming days before they meet up to work on the lab report.

 

Oliver dropped his pen as he saw Connor turn the corner, coming into his view. Connor looked around, smiling as they made eye contact. Oliver could only blush in return.

 

“Hey,” Connor greeted as he sat down in the chair across from Oliver. He flashed Oliver a smile that took his breath away.

 

“Hi.” Oliver shuffled his papers around, pulling out the lab guideline that he printed out. “I was just about to start the questions. Figured we could work through them before going back and actually filling out the other stuff in the lab report? Save the easier stuff for last?”

 

“Sounds good! I actually already answered the first two. I got bored in my class earlier and started working on it,” Connor pulled out a paper full of chicken scratch, pushing it in front of Oliver.

 

Oliver took it in his hands and began to read through his answers. Holy shit. They were correct. Not only was his lab partner extremely attractive, but he was also incredibly smart and pulled his own weight. If Oliver thought he was fucked beforehand, he was officially screwed.

 

They worked diligently for the next hour, moving through the questions and starting the lab report itself. Once Oliver noticed Connor’s attention start to roam, he took it as his chance to actually start a conversation with him that wasn’t centered around the class.

 

“So, I never got a chance to ask you about your major.” Connor looked up at him, surprised in the sudden change in conversation.

 

“Oh. I’m a poli sci major doubling in bio,” Connor leaned back in his chair while running a hand through his hair. His hair just fell back into his eyes and Oliver felt a strong desire to give it a gentle pull. Just to feel the softness, and expose his neck. Kill two birds with one stone.

 

“Those are two very different majors,” Oliver laughed as he dropped his pen, stretching his legs out underneath his desk. His foot bumped into Connor’s leg. He blushed as Connor reached underneath the table, rubbing at the spot Oliver had kicked while Oliver began to apologize profusely.  “Oh my god. I am so sorry.”

 

“Don’t worry about it. I usually request a man buy me a drink before he touches me below the waist, but I’ll make an exception for you.” Connor winked as Oliver’s mouth fell open. Oliver’s mind went completely blank as he tried to think of something to respond with. But of course, he couldn’t.

 

“Uh—Oh—Wait—Uh,” Oliver sighed as he just gave up and closed his mouth. He needed to try to save face, the semester had just begun.

 

“Did I not read the signs right? You seem pretty gay and really into me,” Connor chuckled as Oliver just stared at him.

 

Oliver didn’t have time to think before Connor began talking again.

 

“Because it would be a shame if you weren’t because I think you’re hot. And you’re smart. I’m interested,” A smirk graced Connor’s already beautiful face and Oliver jumped as he felt something bump into his knee.

 

“I am. Interested. I mean,” Oliver grimaced at himself. He was embarrassed, blushing furiously and in need of getting his shit together.

 

“How about we go get a drink or something and finish this later. Maybe in the morning,” Connor was staring at him, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. As much as Oliver wanted to give in, a flash of a potentially very awkward semester popped into his mind and he decided he couldn’t risk it.

 

“As much as I would love to give in and take that offer,” Oliver faltered as Connor raised his eyebrows once he realized he was being rejected. “I don’t want to risk this semester being really awkward. You’re actually a great lab partner and you’re pulling your own weight which is hot as fuck, but school comes first.”

 

Oliver took a deep breath as he started into Connor’s eyes. He watched an unknown emotion flash between them before his eyebrows curved into a line of determination.

 

“I admire that. One thing you should know about me is that I love a challenge,” Connor winked again and it took everything in Oliver not to give in now.

 

His lab partner was competent, attractive, and flirting with him. Oliver didn’t know what he did to deserve this, but he was suddenly so thankful for all of his past decisions.

 

*

 

A month had passed and Connor’s advances still had not subsided. Each time Connor and Oliver spent time together, whether it be in lab or working on the lab report, their interactions could be divided into three different categories. The first one included them talking about their class and their labs. The second category was full of all of Connor’s advances that Oliver painstakingly turned down. The third category involved all of their conversations where they were mutually trying to find out as much as possible about the other. It was full of probing questions about the other’s family background, where they came from. What made them tick. Connor seemed genuinely interested and Oliver ate it all up.

 

They were now friends, texting throughout the day. Usually, the texts were pretty innocent, but Connor always seemed to get in a comment that made Oliver go weak in the knees. But Oliver had gotten used to them. If they were still texting past 10 o’clock, he was expecting them. It was almost like clockwork. The clock hit 10 and the texts became riskier. Nothing ever got too explicit, but they were enough to get him heated. He sometimes responded playfully. Sometimes he shot them down, but that was becoming less often.

 

It was a Friday night and Oliver was working on a coding project due in the morning and had invited Connor over to study with him. They were each sitting on either end of the couch, each absorbed in their work. He was so close to getting it perfect. The program worked and if he turned it in how it was, he would get a decent grade, but that wasn’t good enough for Oliver.

 

He was going over a small section, checking every comma and period when a text message notification came up on the corner of his screen.

 

_Wanna take a break? ;)_

 

Oliver didn’t look up as a replied a quick “ _no.”_

 

It was nearing 11 o’clock and Oliver knew he was in dangerous territory. He was stressed and Connor had looked so good when he walked in through the door. His pristine clothes had been replaced with joggers and a v-neck black t-shirt. His hair wasn’t gelled to perfection like it usually was and Oliver could honestly say that he preferred it this way. Connor was constantly running his fingers through it as he worked on his essay.

 

_Are you sure? You seem stressed. I know a thing or two about relieving stress._

 

Oliver swallowed in attempt to rewet his mouth. His determination was beginning to falter as he felt the couch dip as Connor set his laptop down on the floor and then turn to face him on the couch.

 

Oliver typed back a quick reply. _I am stressed, but this is actually coming along quicker than I anticipated. I’ll be fine._

_If we weren’t lab partners, would you be turning me down?_

Oliver bit his lip as he contemplated his answer. He could shrug this off, say yes. Cockiness wasn’t his type. But that was a complete lie and he didn’t think he would be able to play it off. So he chose to be honest. _No. I would’ve let you have your way with me the second time we met up to work on the lab report._

 

Oliver could feel Connor’s eyes on him as Connor’s phone buzzed, vibrating against his thigh where he was keeping it in between texts.

 

_Wanna know the first thing I would do to you if you let me have my way with you?_

 

Oliver sighed as he read the text. Part of him wanted to say yes. He wanted to know. Even if he was able to keep his self-control and not pounce on the man sitting a few feet away from him, he wanted new material to jerk off to. If he wasn’t allowing himself to touch, he wanted something to help out his fantasies. Get him as close to a night with Connor Walsh without actually pulling the plug on their blossoming friendship. Another part of him wanted to say no. It was too tempting. He needed to wait until the end of the semester. He was already starting to catch feelings. If all Connor wanted was a quick fuck, then he’d be devastated and the rest of the semester would be too painful. If this was the case, he had to wait until the end of the semester. Then Connor could have his way with him, leave him and then Oliver would be forced to move on without any contact with him to serve as a painful reminder of their too short love affair.

 

Instead, he typed out a quick _“yes.”_

 

Connor’s breath hitched as he began to type out his response. Oliver’s palms were sweaty as he stared at his work. He forced himself to pay attention to his code instead of completely engrossing himself in the conversation. He could still iron out his code while waiting for the scandalous texts. He got through another couple of lines of code before another text message popped up on his screen.

 

_I’d want to blow you. Take my time with you. Touch you as you begin to harden, feel you growing in my hands before sinking to my knees in front of you. I’d lick one stripe up along your dick as I watch for your reaction. I bet you’re hot as fuck when you’re getting blown. Once I know you’re watching me, paying attention to me as I suck you off, I’d take you completely into my mouth, pushing my way forward until you’re all the way down my throat. I’d swallow so you can feel my throat around you, feel how far down you are. See how much of you I can take. I want to feel your cock get as hard and big as it can in my mouth. I want to feel you grow. I want to feel how heavy you are on my tongue. I want to swallow you down as you cum in my mouth._

 

Oliver groaned as he read the message through a couple of times. He went to type back a response, but his fingers stilled as he received another message.

 

_You can fuck my face if you want. I’ll take whatever you give me. I’ve learned to be good._

Oliver didn’t have a response.

 

_You can pull my hair. Call me names. I just want to feel you._

 

Oliver finally found a response, an eloquent _“fuck”_ and then his laptop was being lifted from his lap. When had Connor moved so close? His dick was hardening under his sweats as Connor kneeled down in front of him. Oliver thanked the heavens that both of his housemates had gone home for the weekend, leaving them with an empty apartment. Oliver gasped as Connor ran his hands up Oliver’s thighs.

 

“Please, Oliver?” Connor stared up at him through his lashes. His cheeks were tinged a red and his bottom lip was caught in between both sets of teeth. He looked devastatingly beautiful and Oliver couldn’t move. He wanted to nod but he was paralyzed by Connor’s beauty. Connor was breathing heavy, his chest heaving. He ran a fingertip over the elastic of Oliver’s sweats and that’s when Oliver lost it. “May I?”

 

“Yes. Just. Yes,” Oliver moaned as Connor pulled down his pants and fulfilled every promise he had ever muttered.

 

That night, Oliver came the hardest he’s ever cum and he was left wondering why he hadn’t given in sooner. They fell asleep on the couch together, waking up early enough for Oliver to submit his project.

 

*

 

The next Friday came and Oliver found himself sitting on his couch again, this time watching a random documentary on Netflix when he heard a banging on his front door. He got up quickly, hoping to answer before he woke up his potentially sleeping housemates.

 

Connor was standing there, pacing back and forth. Once he noticed Oliver standing in the doorway, he stopped in his tracks, just staring at him.

 

“Yes?” Oliver shivered against the cold air blowing past him.

 

“You ruined other men for me,” Connor stood there, his arms laying against his sides. “I can’t stop thinking about you. And that scares me. I went out tonight to get laid. Try to forget you, scale my feelings back a bit. I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Because I have NO IDEA how you feel about me. But then I approached this guy and before I could even open my mouth to say hi I thought back to when I sucked your dick and I watched you orgasm in my mind again and I realized, no one would ever make me feel that way again. The pride I felt in myself for unraveling you like that felt better than any orgasm I’ve ever received or given. And I had to come here and tell you this because I want to know how you feel.”

 

Oliver was speechless. He opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out.

 

“I like you,” Connor said as he took a step closer, tears were shining in his eyes as he began to frown. He was still rocking back and forth in his spot. He looked torn between fleeing and throwing himself on Oliver. “I need to know how you feel.”

 

Oliver just stared at Connor, feeling his heart go crazy. He finally found the words as he whispered an “I like you too.”

 

“Really?” Connor stopped moving, his hands coming to a standstill at his sides. “Cause I could never tell. You rejected almost all of my advances. You seemed so nonchalant about our hang outs. I figured I was just your friend.”

 

Oliver took a step towards Connor, “I was rejecting you because I didn’t want to fuck up our friendship. Not until after our lab was over. I thought you got that.”

 

“I thought that was your excuse. A way to buy time before you could actually ghost me,” The worried look on Connor’s face began to slip as he bit his lip. His eyes hopeful.

 

“I could never,” Oliver reached out a hand, wrapping his around Connor’s, pulling him closer.

 

“I sleep around a lot,” Connor breathed out. Oliver took another step closer. “I’ve never been on a real date. Never been in a real relationship. But I want to take you to dinner, pay for your meal. Make sure you’re full and content. I want to do that for you. I want to walk you to your door afterwards. Be a gentleman. But I want to go inside with you because you’re all I’ve wanted for the last two months.”

 

Connor was rambling, just a single ball of nerves. Oliver cupped his cheek with his free hand, staring into his eyes as tears began to well up in Connor’s eyes.

 

“I’m scared. I don’t want to fuck up,” Connor bit his lip, pulling his bottom lip partially into his mouth.

 

Oliver reached over, using his thumb to pull on Connor’s lip, swiping it over Connor’s bottom lip, shushing him as he began to speak again. Oliver may have been an infatuated mess in the beginning of their friendship, drooling over Connor and bringing him up in every conversation with Michaela. But right now, he was a solid rock, leaning forward to take what he had never let himself believe he deserved.

 

A kiss from the hottest man alive who ended up stealing his heart.


End file.
